Goldson, Whitner: Pop Warner to popping

Unfortunately for NFL wide receivers, two of the league’s most violent tacklers didn’t listen to their moms.

San Francisco’s starting safeties, Dashon Goldson and Donte Whitner, both got their start in football by playing Pop Warner on the sly.

In Los Angeles, Goldson, a fourth-grader, used his birthday money to sign up for the Tri-City Falcons. In Ohio, Whitner, 8 years old, hid his equipment in the backyard after returning from practice with the Cleveland Warriors.

By the time they were eventually found out, it was too late. The aggressive sport provided an outlet for two kids who barely knew their biological fathers – Goldson considers his stepfather his real dad, and Whitner’s father spent the first 16 years of his son’s life in jail.

About two decades removed from their covert beginnings, Goldson, 28, and Whitner, 27, still share plenty in common. This season, they became the first safeties on the same team to become Pro Bowl starters since Philadelphia’s Brian Dawkins and Michael Lewis in 2005.

“To me, Whitner and Goldson are the two best tackling safeties in the game,” said CBS analyst and former Steelers coach Bill Cowher, who had two Pro Bowl safeties, Carnell Lake and Troy Polamalu. “They’ve had the ability to transition into this very limited area that you can now tackle and hit players. And, at times, you do miss it by an inch or two inches. And you have to suffer the consequences of that.”

Whitner and Goldson have effectively played old-school football under new NFL rules that can sabotage attempts at intimidation. In an increasingly safety conscious league, they haven’t always hit their shrinking targets (Goldson has been fined $38,875 for three hits), but neither is known for dirty play.

Goldson just missed his mark in a 41-34 win over New England on Dec. 16 when he separated New England tight Aaron Hernandez from the football with a violent – and what appeared to be legal – tackle. But Goldson was fined $21,000 for what the NFL deemed a helmet-to-helmet shot.

The tackle, however, had the desired effect. Later in the game, Hernandez shied away when he was targeted with a pass that was intercepted by linebacker Aldon Smith. This week, Cowher said Goldson’s hit had a lasting impact.

“Hernandez kind of short-armed a ball on a screen out there that turned into a pick,” Cowher said. “… It’s the cumulative effect of the hits over a period of time that pay off in the third and fourth quarters.”

Last week, it was Whitner’s turn. After Atlanta’s Julio Jones caught a 13-yard pass over the middle in the third quarter, Whitner walloped the wide receiver and screamed at him as he got back onto his feet. At that point, Jones had eight catches for 148 yards. Over the next 17 minutes: two catches for 10 yards.

“Some things you say out there, you can’t really repeat,” Whitner said. “It wasn’t a really nice message. I told him to stop running through our defense, and hopefully that slowed him down a little bit.”

San Francisco’s brothers in harm have helped slow down plenty of high-powered passing attacks this season. The 49ers went 6-1 against quarterbacks ranked among the top 10 in passer rating, and cornerback Carlos Rogers said Goldson and Whitner played a huge role. They sometimes made an impact just by hovering in the neighborhood of a would-be pass-catcher.

“You’ll see guys kind of watching, seeing where they are before they snap the ball,” Rogers said. “They’re seeing who’s coming down and whether they’re going to be able to catch the ball or not. It’s amazing when you see it on film, how guys duck or dodge the two safeties coming at them.”

Next up for the 49ers is Baltimore quarterback Joe Flacco in the Super Bowl on Feb. 3 in New Orleans. On Friday, Goldson looked ahead to the next challenge, but also took time to reflect.

How, exactly, did his mom find out he was playing Pop Warner behind her back? He smiled as he explained. Dressed in his uniform, he outfitted his sister in his older brother’s football equipment so they could stage tackling drills in the garage.

“I kind of struck a little hard, and she got upset,” Goldson said.

His fuming sister then told their mom, Desrene Williams, about the secret start to her brother’s football career.

Still, Goldson’s mom let him keep playing. And another mother in Cleveland, Deborah Whitner, did the same after discovering football equipment in her backyard.

Years later, Whitner and Goldson can thank their protective and ultimately understanding moms: They’ve gone a long way in a sport they went to great lengths to play.